LAUNCESTON Tornadoes have signed Fijian-born Miliakere Koyamainavure as they bid farewell to captain Lauren Mansfield for two weeks and seek to rebound from a one-point loss to Canberra Capitals Academy.
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Koyamainavure, 24, will be a part of coach Richard Dickel’s arsenal for the season’s remainder after four years playing US college basketball at Missouri Western State University – averaging 12 points and seven rebounds last season.
“She will add another dimension to us,” Dickel said.
“I’m not really expecting too much right off the bat, she hasn’t played for three or four months properly since she left college.
“Mili will bring that added defensive pressure to our group and she is a strong rebounder for her size.
“She will complement our core group of mid-sized players and help with our rotations of the bench as she comes up to speed with the SEABL competition.”
Koyamainavure arrived in town late Wednesday and will train with her new teammates on Thursday before Saturday’s encounter with Albury-Wodonga, who sit second last on the East Conference ladder, at Elphin Sports Centre.
The Torns will again be without Ellie Collins and Ali Partridge due to injury and Mansfield, who is away training with the Opals, following a win and loss from their double header in the nation’s capital last week.
Tornadoes are third on the South Conference table with a 9-5 win-loss record, while the Lady Bandits have only three wins to their name.
Dickel said Bec Abel and Paige French would likely benefit from Mansfield’s absence and work closely with Lauren Nicholson and Tayla Roberts.
“While they are towards the bottom of the ladder they are a team that only a few weeks ago upset Canberra Capitals,” he said.
“They play tough and will be physical with us especially close to the basket.
“They have some very good players such as Toccara Ross, who leads strong from the front, and Stephanie Gorman has been a very good state age group player.”
Dickel said there were still several areas of the Torns game that need improving before an impending play-offs berth.
“Our defence is getting better and we are going to continually try and get better with that but offensively we need to get a lot more movement happening, we have become a little bit stagnant,” he said.
“And that happens sometimes when you put a lot of effort in defensively, so moving forward we want to continue to get better… and hopefully that will set us up if we get into the play-offs to be a little bit better team.”
The game starts at 6.30pm.